Saudi ambassador to Washington Adel Al-Jubair said the embassy is currently working on completing procedures for Saudi prisoners eligible for transfer to Saudi Arabia to complete their prison terms based on an extradition agreement.
“Humaidan (Al-Turki) and other (Saudi) prisoners are a key concern of the Kingdom. The embassy is now working on identifying those eligible for extradition,” he said during a ceremony at the embassy Saturday, adding that such procedures take time.
There are seven Saudi prisoners in the United States and the hope is that they will all be extradited. Al-Jubair said Saudi Arabia would pay millions of riyals to bail Saudi prisoners and have them released.
A local newspaper quoted Humaidan’s brother Ibrahim Al-Turki saying he had no information about his brother’s extradition. Humaidan’s son, Turki, said the family is in contact with his father’s lawyer in the US and discussing the articles in the extradition agreement and deportation procedures with him.
Al-Turki was convicted in a Colorado court in 2006 of keeping his maid as a slave. He was sentenced to eight years in prison. He maintains that he is innocent.
Meanwhile, Al-Jubair said a new consulate will be opened in Chicago to serve Saudi students given the expansion of the King Abdullah scholarship program. Agreements were struck with major airlines and technology companies in the United States to train Saudi graduates for two years after graduation, adding that most of these agreements stipulate recruiting the trainees later at the companies’ branches in Saudi Arabia.
Speaking at the ceremony that was associated with the 34th meeting of the Saudi Student Clubs Presidents, Saudi Attaché Muhammad Al-Isa said the number of Saudi student clubs in the United States have increased from 23 in 2007 to more than 200 currently, adding that the attaché has created a committee allocated for outstanding students. Saudi students are increasing at the US’s top 10 universities, he added.